Choppers: Why? Educate me!

[not2sharp]

duplicate post.

 

[not2sharp]

I guess the OP would like details. Like- WHAT would you want to do? Come to think of it, I, too, would like to learn from those who know more about it than I.

A large heavy knife can do most everything that a hatchet and it can also do a fair amount of fine work. You can easily use it a draw knife or choke up on the blade to use just a fraction of the edge, or baton through heavier materials. Also while most factory hatchets are junk, there are plenty of good quality large knives on the market. Your mileage may vary, but I like them in that role.

n2s

 

[pinnah]

If you need to do some light chopping 4 miles deep in the woods I might bring a big knife and a small saw.

We're making some head way....

On winter low-land XC ski tours, I carry a small fire stove (Emberlit). To keep it fed, I will carry this combination. Basic 5" blade knife and Silky saw.
Winter fire tools by Pinnah, on Flickr

I use the saw to section wood, the knife to clean off branches if needed and to baton the wood if needed.

But, that old H-15 isn't a chopper. I'm not chopping wood in that scenario.

If you are carrying a saw (presumably to section wood), what do you chop with a large chopping knife?

Why do you prefer it to a light hatchet or a machete?

I'm looking for specific usages here.

 

[pinnah]

A large heavy knife can do most everything that a hatchet and it can also do a fair amount of fine work. You can easily use it a draw knife or choke up on the blade to use just a fraction of the edge, or baton through heavier materials. Also while most factory hatchets are junk, there are plenty of good large quality knives on the market. Your mileage may vary, but I like them in that role.

n2s,

I find I can split 1"- 3" wood consistently with my 5" fixed blade.
I find I can split 3"- 8" wood consistently with my hatchet. (sometimes bigger, depending)

What size of wood can you consistently split with you chopper?

 

[Mike-Mike]

.

If you are carrying a saw (presumably to section wood), what do you chop with a large chopping knife? Small trees 3" or so will sometimes come down with one chop which is a lot less energy then sawing. Also, splitting small logs (batoning not really chopping)

Why do you prefer it to a light hatchet or a machete? Because it's lighter and it multitasks. When I am on a hike if a tool cant preform 3 or more tasks then I wont take it. I haven't gutted game with an ax or saw, I am not saying its impossible but unrealistic.

I'm looking for specific usages here.

See bold

 

[not2sharp]

n2s,

I find I can split 1"- 3" wood consistently with my 5" fixed blade.
I find I can split 3"- 8" wood consistently with my hatchet. (sometimes bigger, depending)

What size of wood can you consistently split with you chopper?

Usually, 3-5", I could go heavier, but I can find little reason to do so if I am just backpacking.

n2s

 

[Mike-Mike]

Usually, 3-5", I could go heavier, but I can find little reason to do so if I am just backpacking.

n2s

I prefer a large knife on a day hike and a small knife on a 3 day for instance. Anyone care to guess why?

 

[ARundrpillow]

I find a chopper works better than an axe or a small knife at splitting very small kindling. For me it is safer and more effective to baton down to very small diameter than it is to drop an axe on it or any other method with an axe. Argue it all you want but it is easier for me. I do not like carrying axes when in the woods unless I know i am specifically going to be doing a large amount of wood processing.

 

[stabman]

I get hatchets and machetes. I own both and know when to grab which one from the barn.

A GOOD chopper substitutes for these.

Like this one (again):



It chops as good as a hatchet.
It clears thorns and other crap like that out of the way like a short machete.

It gets enough tip speed to cut green vegetation easily, but would be inefficient if you're trying to get through a jungle...that's what dedicated machetes are for.
Up here we don't live in jungles; I encounter more impassable patches of thorn trees and stuff like that.

It weighs about the same as a good hatchet, or a stout machete, but fits in a pack or rides nicely on the belt.

That's about it.

 

[Mecha]

What can a big mean chopper do better than a hatchet, machete or small knife? Scare the bejeezus out of rampaging mammals out in the deep dark woods, and send 'em packing!

 

[hoppes no9]

The folks on the Walking Dead seem to favor choppers for certain tasks involving the tops of zombies' skulls, and they appear to work very well at that.

 

[bronyblacksmith]

Let me just say I love machetes and hate hatchets. If I wanted an axe I would bring a tomahawk or 3/4 axe.
I find that they are better at cutting wood than a machete and more versatile than an axe, if done just right they can also but better than a hatchet, and I hate splitting with a hatchet; I find that botoning is safer and easier.
just my .02

 

[stabman]

The folks on the Walking Dead seem to favor choppers for certain tasks involving the tops of zombies' skulls, and they appear to work very well at that.

True...look how well the Pestilence Chopper took out this paper zombie:



(not a very good chopper though, really)

Of course, the Ka-Bar Bushcraft knife killed Hitler:

 

[FTR-14c]

I like the precision and control of a large knife over a hatchet.



It some cases it is easier for me to split a whole log lengthwise and cross chop the smaller segments rather than chopping the full diameter several times.
I find a hatchet gets stuck and I need to make wedges to finish the job.

 

[Raymond1000]

I discussed my reasons in this old thread: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/973648-The-day-the-hatchet-stopped

The original post ran:

When I was a teenager we lived in an old farmhouse with central heating. The center was a wood furnace in the basement. Vents in the floors let heat rise into the ground and second story. The house sat on forty acres of land, most of it woodlot.

One of my chores was processing wood. I’d fell trees, limb them, and cut them into logs. The horse did the hard part, dragging the timber to the house for bucking. I usually used an axe for felling. It was good exercise, and let me practice my axe skills.

In those days I was under the influence of George Sears. When backpacking I carried a small belt knife (not a Nessmuk) and a double bit hatchet. A close match to the one pictured and described in Woodcraft. Except mine wasn’t custom made. When cutting furnace wood, I used a hatchet to limb the felled trees. Good exercise, good practice.

One day I was trimming branches when something deflected my hatchet. Right into my knee. My luck was in. The hatchet hit flat on, giving me a nice bruise. Had it hit edge on, that would have been a life changing event. Perhaps a life ending one, since I was out there alone.

I continued to use a full size axe. And yes, I got a lot more careful about clearing swinging room before I started chopping. But from then on, for anything smaller, I retired my hatchets. My Nessmuk double bit languished. Instead I used a trail knife or a heavy machete.

When instructing an apprentice I always say, “This saw doesn’t care. It will cut off your fingers just as slick as it cuts lumber. The safety must be what you provide.” Blades don’t care either, nor blunt objects. It’s not that big blades aren’t dangerous. They certainly are. I just consider them less dangerous than a pocket axe. The thing about a short axe is all that weight on the end. The very thing for which it is valued. All that inertia so far from your hand is hard to abort when a stroke goes wrong. It is easier to correct a trail knife mid-stroke. That is why I consider big blades less dangerous.

Mind you, this depends on circumstances. I continued to use a rig-axe when stacking rafters. On top of the building there is nothing but blue sky to deflect my framing hatchet. And on a job site there is emergency care available.

But in the woods? In an emergency kit? A full axe is fine in a truck kit, or your bug-out cabin. For a backpack kit? A big knife or small machete. For a smaller kit, a hunting knife and a saw. A kit for someone unfamiliar with hand tools? A hunting knife and a saw.

Your mileage may vary.

 

[Alvaro Candanedo]

I think part of the choice is cultural. In my neck of the woods, nobody carries axes, hatchets, tomahawks, etc. If a "campesino" needs to chop a tree, must probably will use a chainsaw. They use axes, but in very specific situations. Machetes, are the universal tool, for everything.

 

[stabman]

Hard as it may be for people to believe, I don't actually run through the world constantly slaying Ents.
About a month or so ago I went on nice hike through a provincial park here with a bunch of old growth Oak forest stuff going on.
As they had well-established trails and no fires allowed, my knives actually got used for nothing at all.

 

[CloudsRest]

I find I can chop small branches more efficiently with a big knife than a hatchet. I'm not talking about splitting--I use an axe for that, and only after I use a chain saw to cut up a log. When I'm camping or backpacking, I don't have access to neatly cut logs to split. This involves a good deal of push-cutting and often not much room to swing. More than anything, I'm cutting off small branches and small limbs, then chopping them into smaller pieces to burn. I sometimes split them, but not often, and when I do I find a large knife and baton to work better than a hatchet because there is no way to stand the branch up on its end and swing (there is also no flat log under it to catch the blade). I've tried a few different hatchets and my BK9 really does get the job done much faster and more safely. This all applies to dense pine forest with a lot of scraggly branches btw--I don't know if it would be different with other types of forest. I also tend to have small fires and try to make my wood last as long as possible.

 

[Thomas Linton]

. . . Machete work tends to happen close to the ground and with an obstructed view, so it is common to come into contact with rocks, masonry, pipes and other hard damaging materials.

n2s

In Latin America, where the machete is king, the machete is used at least as often where view is quite good and rocks are few - as in corn flelds and keeping tropical vegitation from reclaiming a path.

My use has been more like you describe.

Also while most factory hatchets are junk, there are plenty of good quality large knives on the market.

ePrey offers many quite good hand axes and some good full axes - usually at modest prices. Please buy some. I'm out of room.

 

[mountainmist]

Ummmm, Yeah....

BTW, Equal number of chops, equal sharpness, and equal skill......